America's Got Talent Final: Audience votes for Kodi Lee

SCREEN CAPTURE

Singer Kodi Lee and his mother, Tina Lee, react when he was named the winner of 'America's Got Talent.'

America voted for Kodi Lee as their favorite performer on the reality competition, America's Got Talent.

It was not a foregone conclusion Wednesday (Sept. 18) but the 22-year-old blind and autistic Korean American singer and pianist was a heavy favorite.

Throughout the 16-week season, each time he performed in the auditions and the semi-final rounds, Lee outdid himself receiving high praise from the judges and standing ovations from the audience.

AGT viewers agreed, moved by his story of overcoming his blindness and autism, and his sterling emotional performances, as they voted for Lee.

"It was a no-brainer,” judge Howie Mandel told Entertainment Week after the show. “From the moment he walked into the auditions… I’ve been watching this show for 14 years, I’ve been on the show for 10 years, we have never had a more buzzworthy or more viral moment than Kodi Lee stepping on our stage. 

"The moment he was introduced as this young man with autism who is blind who then sat down at the piano… it seemed like an eternity to the time he hits that first note. You go, ‘I just want this to be good. I don’t know what to expect!’ And then he opens his mouth and hits the keys — the roof is blown off the place. Within 48 hours, there was a half-billion clicks internationally on every digital platform. We’ve never had anything that viral, that buzzworthy. From that point on I went, ‘This is the winner,’” exclaimed Mandel.

Wednesday also marked the end of the acrobatic dance group from India, V. Unbeatable, made it to fourth place.

For winning the competition, the Lake Elsinore, California-based Lee will receive $1 million and he will headline shows from Nov. 7-10 at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.